Do Work Son!

Kai too has entered the ranks of the gainfully employed! Last week, I started working at a small internet startup in Shanghai called BloggerInsight as a Market Research Analyst. We do market intelligence by crowd sourcing opinions from bloggers. In short, Western clients (web businesses) pay us to answer their questions about the Chinese market. We create an internal forum for bloggers to provide analysis, the best of which we package into a report for the client. In turn, we compensate the bloggers for their contributions. It works because Western firms cannot connect to the grassroots web community (particularly in China) while bloggers struggle to monetize their expertise. <End Press Release>

But it's almost more accurate to say that I work for a dynamic duo that incubates startups: Lucas and Markus, young American and Austrian entreprenuers, respectively. Their model is to run a website for a few months to test for traction. If it doesn't take off, it's off to the next one. Startups are generally launched under the larger Web2Asia umbrella, a larger company co-founded by Markus. One startup recently launched in China is called 88dishes, a localized edition of Mjam, a growing online restaurant-order service in Europe. So while BloggerInsight is a primary project, there's always more on the burner.

True to internet form, the work environment is delightfully casual. The boss came in jeans and flip-flops on my first day and things start at a comfortable 9:30am. The office is called 88spaces, a "co-working space for hackers, techies, creatives, entrepreneurs and independents. A creative hub where you can work independently, together with other like minded people." Plus, there's a comfy Ikea sofa and an Xbox on the way. This job has me reaching for the internet startup Kool-Aid.

Finally, I’ve settled into a new apartment with two solid British friends, Max and Will. The apartment is comfy, but poorly insulated, so I dread the Shanghai winter. Despite the cold, I plan to spend a couple more years out in China... and so far so good!